Coastal Enterprises, manufacturers of Precision Board HDU, is proud to host guest blogs written by some of the signage industry’s biggest movers and shakers, posted to the Precision Board Blog. This guest blog is written by Dan Sawatzky with Imagination Corporation in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. This month, Dan walks us through fabricating The Pie Barn sign for his tourism farm theme project, using PBLT-30 Precision Board HDU and metal.
In Dan’s own words…
I absolutely love apple pie, peach pie, pumpkin pie, cherry pie… and well just about any kind of pie imaginable. When we got the chance to do up the Pie Barn sign we jumped at the chance. Better yet, I get to go back to Vala’s farm in September and sample some of these delicious treats… but I digress…
We went with the common theme in the signs which is a sign face mounted onto a heavy duty bracket which is attached to a tree stump. The mounting space of this sign is fairly narrow and so the tree needed to lean back to keep the sign away from the narrow path. We incorporated a rolling pin with the lettering which was part of their existing logo.
The rolling pin routing file was designed in four layers and with each layer routed from 2” thick 30 lb Precision Board. I used one of our woodgrain bitmaps from our TEXTURE MAGIC – WOODGRAINS to create the realistic woodgrain in the Precision Board. The shot below is straight off the router with no handwork or finishing. The four pieces of the giant rolling pin (52” long x 8” diameter) were glued together using PB Fast Set adhesive.
I mocked the Pie Barn sign up on the bracket to make sure we liked it.
A 5/8” steel rod was laminated into the centre of the rolling pin. Two rods protrude from the bottom. These were welded onto the half inch thick steel plasma cut bracket. I then used an air powered die grinder to extend the woodgrain on the top and bottom of the rolling pin and onto the handles.
We are building a second larger rolling pin as well which will be perched on the roof above the entry. It measures just over 12’ wide! It will be sculpted from fibreglass reinforced concrete over this welded steel armature.
As I said above I’m looking forward to seeing the signs in place in September and also sampling some of those delicious fresh baked pies!
Sawatzky’s Imagination Corporation is a small family company that specializes in the design and creation of dimensional signs and environments. They tackle projects of any size from small signs to entire theme parks. Their work has garnered numerous national and international awards.
Dan Sawatzky is best described as a creative force and visual storyteller extraordinaire. His art career spans almost fifty years of magic. Dan’s passion is to design and create imaginative places that take people from the normal world to a setting of delight and wonder.
Coastal Enterprises manufactures Precision Board HDU, a versatile, cost-effective and eco-friendly urethane sign material that is particularly effective for making professional-looking indoor and outdoor dimensional signs. It is a closed-cell rigid substrate that does not rot, warp or crack. You can request free samples, get a quote or sign up for periodic newsletters packed with helpful information.